Relapse Happens

Did the Super Bowl game get you off track this past weekend with your dieting efforts? Did it start with eating a little of this and a little of that and all of a sudden you were really overdoing it?

What you don’t want to do is turn any bad day into a total moral issue. This starts when you start telling yourself “I’ve been bad.” You are not a bad person because you did not follow your food program! You are not a thief or murderer here, all right? Or would you tell your best friend she was bad if she ate off her program?All this kind of thinking does is make you feel worse and reinforces the very negative behavior you don’t want!  Note that relapse is more about your specific reaction to it and it's all part of the  weight  loss process. Everyone is challenged almost daily with negative influences. What you need to do here is learn new skills around specific areas and not constantly judge yourself about how “bad” or “good” you are. So what was the exact cause for slipping and how can you prevent it from happening again?

And, for those of you that got through the game eating moderately, great work with this huge challenge! How did you you transform from "aints to saints?" Help give us suggestions on how you did it!

Aints to Saints?

Tomorrow is the big game. Even though I’m not a big football fan myself my husband and boys are. From what I’ve been told this is the first time the Saints have made it to the Super Bowl. For those of you who really struggle with every social event around food make this your own special Super Bowl.

Consider this: for years fans of the Saints hid in shame with paper bags over their heads with the words “Aints” on them because they were never skilled enough to make it to the big game. But this year they are taking off those paper bags off their heads and putting the S back on the "aints." Make this your year to win in moderation with your food intake. Don’t feel bad come Monday morning.

How do you do this? All week both Dana and I have been offering suggestions to coach you with the food “game.”(You can also check out the December blogs in the archives for even more ideas on socializing.) Now believe you can and you will! Find the ideas that work personally for you and make the commitment to yourself that you can and you will be the winner. Announce it on our blog or make a pact with a friend but go for your  own personalized win over socializing with food tomorrow.

Mindful or Mindless Eating?

According to Brian Wansink, Ph.D. author of Mindless Eating-Why we eat more than we think,” we are a nation of mindless eaters. “We overeat because of the numerous cues around us. We overeat because of family, friends, packages, (size of) plates, shapes, smells, distractions, etc…” This Sunday’s Super Bowl could be that kind of event but it doesn't have to be.

Think of mindful eating,  and  about what you eat with more choice involved around it. Along those lines dieters frequently say to me, “I just don’t want to think about food all the time.” This is a legitimate argument but the idea isn’t that you have to be obsessed with planning your food, it just means you have to make healthy eating a priority as part of your lifestyle. Once that happens, you accept it and implement it in your life as such, and the rest is easy (well, sorta). Wansink states we make up to “200 food related decisions a day.” Learn to make them more mindful decisions, as part of your lifestyle and your normal way of living and you can still maintain your weight and remain healthy regardless of all the social events.

Those social events around food will never fade. They are a part of how we live and we need to learn to live healthy within the context of them. When we make both a conscious choice and are mindful about what we eat we can be successful with weight management. Check out some of Wansink's suggestions here, Dana's tips and a plan for Sunday.

Super Bowl Game Plan

This Sunday marks another holiday Super Bowl event. Over 93 million people will celebrate watching it!  How many of you in that category are currently dieting? Dana has already offered some great tips on how to get through the day to win the dieting game! Start getting prepared for Sunday now rather than waiting to the last minute to be coached.

Just like in football I'm here to offer a mindset to compliment Dana's  strategies so you can follow through with what you feel  is appropriate for your win. It's based on one of Benjamin Franklin's quotes: "The constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

You can still have a great time and choose to eat moderately and feel good about yourself. You don't have to deprive yourself. Or, you can decide to eat too much and feel both physically and emotionally bad about your choices. Very simply put this is really your choice alone and it doesn't have to be black or white. Use Nutrition Data's guidelines for a maintenance day which is that "gray" area. Pretend Sunday is a "dress rehearsal" for maintenance., the real game. Implement some of Dana's useful suggestions and "catch" the ball of happiness you are truly seeking for your health and weight. 

"Just do It!"

Years ago Nike adopted a logo statement, "Just do it!" The phrase did not say, "Well, let me think about it." Needless to say that statement would carry little momentum for achievement for a weight loss goal.

 I suggest thinking about a statement from  a book called, "The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose by Matthew Kelly. He has a commanding quote which reveals the strength of achievement of any goal :  First make up your mind once and for all, and then do it! He states: "We choose, and in doing so, we design our lives. Learn to master the moment of decision and you will live a life uncommon." Attainment of a goal is really a mindset, not just following a diet. Once the mindset is there it doesn't matter what challenges you have. You will do what you need to do to be successful!

More Reasons why Heavy isn't Healthy

It’s obvious being overweight increases your risks for various diseases. But did you know that if you are over 20 pounds overweight this may actually put you at risk for getting poorer medical treatment? This is  clearly about fat discrimination. Recently Health magazine stated that: if you are an overweight woman you may:

• Have a harder time getting health insurance or pay higher premiums
• Are at a higher risk of being misdiagnosed or receiving inaccurate dosages of drugs
• Are less likely to find a fertility doctor 
• Are less likely to have cancer detected early and receive effective treatment.

We know culture maintains general negativity toward being overweight and doctors are human too. Apparently some may harbor negative feelings toward overweight patients because they are becoming more dismissive, less patient and even have clouded judgment regarding diagnosis. For more information read How Doctors Think by Harvard Medical school Professor Jerome Groopman, MD.

It's still Fish for Health

We've all heard it by now. We should be eating more fish (at least twice a week) for better health. But then you hear the reports about the toxins found in fish.... What's a person to do?

Well don't stop eating fish! Just don't consume so much of the the "bigger" fish like shark, marlin, and sea bass as they accumulate more mercury in their bodies during their long lives. Also mix up up your menu of fish. When you mix different varieties of fish you lower the risk of contaminants. If you enjoy tuna, have it once a week. Then later in the week eat shrimp. Wild salmon (not farm raised) is one of the healthiest fish to consume because it contains all those omega-3 fats which are so heart healthy and may assist in weight loss.

So which ones are the healthiest catches, lower in contaminants, better for our environment and good sources of the omega-3s? Monterey Bay aquarium's Seafood Watch and the Environmental  Defense fund suggest going to the "Super Green" list from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Planning for Success

We are well into January now and how are you all doing on your New Year's Resolutions? Has the magic of the brand new year disappeared replaced by life's usual stressors?

Have you given up or are you thinking of giving up? Before you do consider this. Instead of perfection on a goal, I have a saying I adopted many years ago, "Progress not perfection." If you make a goal so rigid it's almost impossible to achieve. For example with a food plan aim for 85% compliance. Instead of exercising EVERY day aim for five days. Remember you want the goal to be really attainable otherwise you will give up because you feel unsuccessful.

Also consider effective planning right along with goal setting. Take a look at your calender for each each week ahead of time considering your schedule and lifestyle. If you "Fail to plan, you plan to fail!" You must develop this mindset for your actual behaviors to change.

Feel more Satisfied

Once again, mother was right, chew your food. The older I get, the more I see actual proven studies saying how well these old fashioned habits have merit contributing to weight loss.

Not only is it better for your digestion and obtaining the full benefits of  nutrition from your food (chewing is part of the digestion process) but you'll feel more full. In other words, chew more and you’ll eat less and lose weight. ”Masticating while mentally reciting the alphabet could help you feel fuller  longer, says a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Participants who chewed nuts 40 times, rather than 25 times reported greater satiety” according to Richard Mattes, MPH, PhD, RD cited in Prevention magazine.

Will Power and Self-Control

As dieters we are always talking about not having enough will power or self-control. So consider this quote by Eknath Easwaren:

"Eventually, meditation will make our mind calm, clear, and as concentrated as a laser which we can focus at will. This capacity of one-pointed attention is the essence of genius. When we have this mastery over attention in everything we do, we have a genius for life itself: unshakable security, clear judgment, and deep personal relationships."

How often have we heard about meditation to relax the mind, to de-stress and just unwind? Yet it should not be underestimated as a powerful tool to develop that elusive will power and self-control over our food intake! Think of how you can be “as concentrated as a laser at will” when all those tempting things are presented before us. Think of the power we can feel to “have pure mastery in everything we do” when it comes to losing and keeping our weight off. What a joy to have that kind of control!

Another unknown author states that, "The successful man is the average man, focused."  So if meditation can give us that kind of focus for success and de-stress why can’t we take ten minutes a day to master our mind over matter (food)? Everyone can take ten minutes.....